Archaeologists have unearthed what may be the first known infant burial ever found in a Roman military camp in Iberia, which provides valuable insight into the blending of life, law, and ritual activity within the Roman military. The study, published in Childhood in the Past and led by Marta Fernández-Viejo of León University and Burgos University, centers on the castrum of Legio VI Victrix in León, Spain.

Children playing ball games. Marble Roman relief, second quarter of the 2nd century CE, probably a fragment of a sarcophagus. Louvre Museum, Paris. Credit: Marie-Lan Nguyen / CC BY 3.0

It was discovered in 2006 during emergency excavations carried out at the sacristy of the convent of Siervas de Jesús and on Francisco Regueral Street. Legio VI Victrix, founded by Augustus in 41 BCE and stationed in Hispania Tarraconensis in 29 BCE, guarded key pᴀsses through the Asturian mountains near the confluence of the Bernesga and Torío rivers.

In Area 1 of the site, archaeologists found the remains of an infant buried in a tegula—a Roman roof tile—beneath the floor of a contubernium workshop. Roof-tile burials for infants were not unusual in Roman funerary practice but were typically confined to cemeteries or household spaces.

Infant graves in a military context are extremely rare, with confirmed cases at Hadrian’s Wall forts and in nearby settlements, but not within barracks. The León example is therefore unique, especially since it was placed near a doorway in a soldiers’ workspace.

Roman roof tiles and box flue tiles on display at the Roman Museum, Butchery Lane, Canterbury, Kent. Infant burials in roof tiles were not uncommon in Roman funerary practice but were usually limited to cemeteries or domestic spaces. Credit: Linda Spashett / CC BY 3.0

Skeletal analysis showed the infant was born to term, around 38–42 weeks, but some of the bones, including parts of the pelvis and skull, were not fully formed. This discrepancy, Fernández-Viejo states, is symptomatic of stress, illness, or poor nutrition during pregnancy. There were no external injuries visible, so infanticide can be excluded, but smothering or exposure deaths would not leave skeletal traces. Radiocarbon dating placed the burial between 47 BCE and 61 CE.

This was the period when Augustus’s reforms banned soldiers from marrying while on service and, theoretically, excluded wives and children from military bases. But archaeological evidence in frontier provinces such as Britannia and Germania indicates that soldiers did circumvent these regulations most of the time. The presence of everyday items linked to family life—such as shoes and personal items—suggests that many garrisons contained women and children.

Sarcophagus of a child decorated with sporting scenes, including the crowning of the winner. Roman artwork, ca. 175–225 CE, discovered at Vigna Carpi, Rome, Italy. Louvre Museum, Paris. Credit: Marie-Lan Nguyen / CC BY 4.0

The unconventional burial placement can be explained through Roman spiritual views. Infants who died at or shortly after birth were thought to have powerful souls that could affect the living. Burial of remains under a threshold was believed to prevent harm to the structure and the individuals who worked within it. Such “foundation burials,” usually animals but sometimes humans, were common in Roman construction rituals, marking the shift from a profane to a sacred space.

The León discovery challenges ᴀssumptions that life in the Roman army was rigidly separate from domestic and religious spheres. Instead, it suggests a more complex scenario—one in which soldiers, families, and spiritual practices intersected in the same spaces where the empire’s legions lived and worked.

More information: Marta, F.-V., Rebeca, G.-G., José Miguel, C., Emilio, C., & Laura, R. (2025). Uncovering childhood in the Roman army: A perinatal burial from the Roman castrum of the legio VI in León. Childhood in the Past, 1–17. doi:10.1080/17585716.2025.2538923